Students make something of themselves

One of the highlights of an exhibition of by high school artists at the Long Beach Museum of Art is the artwork by Penelope Ornellana of Renaissance School for the Arts. Her pencil, ink and marker piece is titled "Penelope." BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER

From paintings of ballet shoes to photographs of comic books, the Long Beach Museum of Art premiered its latest exhibition of student artwork on Feb. 22. The exhibition titled “Exploring the Self Through Cabinets of Curiosity” accepted submissions from Long Beach Unified School District high schools.

More than 100 submissions from high-school art classes were sent to the museum.

The exhibition displayed 51 of those in its Toyota Children's Gallery. Three-dimensional works were also accepted.

Submitted artwork had to fit the exhibit's theme, “Cabinets of Curiosity,” meaning the artists had to depict the objects that fascinate and represent them.

Art students used a variety of mediums for their “Cabinets of Curiosity.” Wilson High School junior Quincy Irving mixed tiny toy cars, Plastic Army Men, spoons and keys in plaster, and then painted a rough self-portrait over it.

“When you look closer, you see all the different objects that make up who I am. But from far away, it's more about the portrait,” Irving said.

The plaster was held together in a board to resemble a cabinet or shelf.

Irving selected objects that reminded him of his childhood. He also included a tag he found at an antique swap meet inscribed with a 32, his lucky number.

“This is the way I interpret ‘Cabinets of Curiosity,'” he said. “These are the different components and important memories that make up people's lives.”

The curiosity among students even extended to their heritage. Renaissance High School for the Arts junior Penelope Orellana drew the skulls and skeletons of Dia de los Muertos, a holiday that intrigues her.

“My dad is Guatemalan, and my mom is Mexican,” Orellana said. “The skull is a symbol of the Aztec ancestry, which interests me. There's something unique and beautiful about it.”

For many of these artists, the fascinations they hold toward the objects they used have no explanation.

A key, a tin and a swallow bird were the focus of a piece made by Millikan High School junior Sara Von Epp.

“I'm just attracted to them. I love they way they look,” Von Epp said. “They're my obsessions.”

One of the highlights of an exhibition of by high school artists at the Long Beach Museum of Art is the artwork by Penelope Ornellana of Renaissance School for the Arts. Her pencil, ink and marker piece is titled "Penelope." BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER
One of the highlights of the exhibition was the artwork by Penelope Ornellana of Renaissance School for the Arts. Her pencil, ink and marker piece is titled "Penelope." BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER
Quincy Irving of Wilson High School created this multimedia untitled self portrait. He said he visited an antique swap meet three times and collected things he was drawn to. He used more than 80 items to create this piece. BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER

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